Anti-SLAPP Laws in Wyoming

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

There is no anti-SLAPP statute currently in force in Wyoming. The 2026 regular session came the closest Wyoming has to enacting one: House Bill 103 passed the House with bipartisan support but was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose chair said stakeholders were nearly unanimous that the bill "was not the vehicle" for the job, citing concerns that it was drafted by an out-of-state attorney and that its fee provisions were imbalanced between plaintiffs and defendants. The Joint Judiciary Committee has approved anti-SLAPP legislation as a formal 2026 interim study topic, aiming to produce Wyoming-specific draft legislation for a future legislative session.

What speech or conduct would be protected

Not applicable as a statutory matter — there is no statute defining protected activity. Wyoming case law fills part of the gap with ordinary constitutional defamation doctrine: the Wyoming Supreme Court has held that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and press prohibit a public official from recovering damages for defamatory statements unless it can be shown that the statements were made with actual malice," the same rule the U.S. Supreme Court announced in New York Times v. Sullivan. This protects a defendant only in a defamation case brought by a public official or public figure — it doesn't reach other tort theories a SLAPP plaintiff might use instead, like invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, or claims against a private-figure plaintiff.

The special motion that doesn't exist

There is no special motion to strike or dismiss a claim based on protected speech. A defendant must use an ordinary motion to dismiss under Wyoming Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) or a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56, on the normal civil litigation timeline, with no automatic stay of discovery while the motion is pending.

Burden of proof

Because there is no anti-SLAPP statute, there is no early, statute-based burden-shifting test. Where the actual-malice rule applies to a defamation claim by a public official or public figure, the plaintiff carries the burden of proving actual malice, but that burden is resolved as part of winning or losing the case on the merits — through a motion to dismiss, summary judgment, or trial — not on an expedited special motion filed early in the litigation.

Attorney's fees

There is no SLAPP-specific or general frivolous-litigation fee-shifting statute in Wyoming. Wyoming follows the ordinary American Rule: each side pays its own attorney's fees regardless of who wins, unless a specific statute, contract, or court rule independently authorizes a fee award. A general cost statute, W.S. § 1-14-126(b), lets a court exercise discretion over the amount of a fee award, but only in actions "for which an award of attorney's fees is authorized" by some other law — it does not create fee-shifting authority on its own, so it offers no practical substitute in an ordinary defamation or tort case.

Right to appeal

There is no special interlocutory appeal right tied to a ruling on a speech-based motion. Ordinary Wyoming rules on final judgments and permissive interlocutory appeals under the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure apply, the same as in any other civil case.

Exemptions

Not applicable — there is no statute to carve exemptions from.

What trips people up

Wyoming came close to passing a law in 2026, but didn't. House Bill 103 cleared the House with support from both parties before dying in a Senate committee — someone researching Wyoming law from an older source, or from national news coverage of the bill's House passage, could easily come away thinking Wyoming has an anti-SLAPP law when it currently does not.

An interim study isn't a law, and doesn't guarantee one is coming. The Joint Judiciary Committee's 2026 interim study is a step toward possible future legislation, not a pending bill with an effective date — there's no guarantee it produces a bill, or that a future bill passes.

Wyoming's fee rule cuts against defendants, not for them. Some other no-statute states have a general fee-shifting court rule that at least partially substitutes for a real anti-SLAPP fee award (Alaska's Rule 82, for example). Wyoming has no such general rule — the plain American Rule applies, so a defendant who wins a meritless defamation suit typically recovers nothing for the legal fees spent defending it.

There's no discovery stay while you fight the underlying claim. Without a special motion, discovery proceeds on the normal timeline regardless of whether the lawsuit targets protected speech.

Common questions

Does Wyoming have any fast way to get a meritless lawsuit over my speech thrown out? No. There's no SLAPP-specific procedure. You'd use an ordinary motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment, which takes the normal amount of time and comes with no automatic discovery stay.

I heard Wyoming passed an anti-SLAPP law in 2026 — is that true? No. A bill (House Bill 103) passed the Wyoming House but was rejected by a Senate committee in March 2026 and never became law. A legislative committee is now studying the issue for a possible future bill.

If I win a defamation case in Wyoming, do I get my attorney's fees back? Not automatically, and usually not at all. Wyoming follows the American Rule, so each side generally pays its own fees regardless of who wins, unless a specific statute or contract says otherwise.

Statutes and sources

• Hill v. Stubson, 2018 WY 70, 420 P.3d 732 (Wyo. 2018) — applies the constitutional actual-malice rule to a defamation claim brought by a public official. Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6656716/hill-v-stubson/ (accessed 2026-08-23).
• W.S. § 1-14-126(b) — "In civil actions for which an award of attorney's fees is authorized, the court in its discretion may award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party without requiring expert testimony." Source: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title01.pdf (accessed 2026-08-23).